Spill The Beans

Spill The Beans : Phrases

Meaning:

A secret has been revealed.

Example:

You have to be careful. Don't spill the beans.

Origin:

The ancient Greeks were very fastidious about who they would let into membership of their many secret societies. A common voting method was for members to drop either a white or a black bean into a jar. White meant acceptance and black rejection of the new application. It only needed a few black beans for total rejection. The precise numbers of white and black votes were meant to be secret but, occasionally, the jar was knocked over and the beans were spilt.